Challenges and opportunities of vehicle-to-grid

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly scaling and increasingly interacting with power and transportation systems, motivating a unified review of EV architectures, control, and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services. This paper first classifies EVs as gridable or non-gridable from a distributionoperator perspective, then synthesizes key energy pathways, grid electricity with dominant lithiumion and emerging sodium-ion/solid-state batteries, hydrogen fuel-cell routes, and dual-source configurations, and their implications for efficiency, emissions, and operating modes. Onboard energy management is reviewed as a layered framework spanning powertrain EMS and battery/thermal management, emphasizing constraint-aware, predictive, and learning-enabled control under high-power charging. The review then reframes V2G by interface technology, comparing wired and wireless V2G across accessories, systems, and operations. Major value streams (ancillary services, capacity deferral, demand-charge reduction, resilience) and deployment constraints (battery life, distribution impacts, cybersecurity, metering, economics, and standards) are consolidated. Finally, wireless EV energy networks are discussed, highlighting research needs in coupled energy routing and traffic-aware scheduling.